BOULDER ? The Sportswomen of Colorado will honor the University of Colorado’s 2004 NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country Championship team of Renee Metivier, Christine Bolf, Liza Pasciuto, Natalie Florence, Sara Slattery and Amber Smith, as well as head coach Mark Wetmore, soccer player Fran Munnelly, and former women’s basketball player Tera Bjorklund at its annual dinner Sunday, March 13, executive director Joan Birkland announced.
The evening will begin with a 5 p.m. reception followed by dinner at 6 at the Marriott Tech Center on Syracuse in Greenwood Village, Colo. Tickets for the dinner are $40 with sponsorship tables beginning at $1,000.
The cross country team upset top-ranked, and defending national champion, Stanford to win their second NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country Championship in five seasons, capping off the team’s unbeaten season following wins at their own Rocky Mountain Shootout, Pre-National Invitational, their eighth Big 12 Conference title and NCAA Mountain Region Championship. In less-than-perfect conditions, the Buffs ran the perfect race at the NCAA Championships, placing three runners in the top-20, and claiming the race’s national runner-up in Renee Metivier, and all five scores in the top-30 for five All-American titles. The team’s 63 points was a program championship record and the fifth-lowest in the history of the championship and the 81-point margin was the fourth-largest in race history. In the classroom, five runners were named Academic All-Big 12 and combined for an in-season 3.001 with 12 runners turning in 3.00 or better semester, with two on the Dean’s List (3.75 or better) and freshman Amber Smith (who ran the national championship race), having a perfect 4.00 semester.
The cross country team is just the second CU squad to be recognized by the 30-year-old organization, as it recognized the campus’ women’s basketball team following the 1989 season.
Mark Wetmore will receive his first Sportswomen of Colorado Coach of the Year honor after leading both squads to undefeated seasons in 2004, the first time that both programs had run through the varsity portion of the schedule unscathed in the history of the sport at CU. And for the just the fourth time in the annals of the sport, both teams swept the team titles at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., likely the only rosters to do it with all American-born athletes, upsetting the two top-ranked (and heavily favored) teams in their respective races. When the dust from the season settled, Wetmore was named the Big 12, NCAA Mountain and the NCAA Division I Women’s Coach of the Year for the second time. In the classroom, 16 of his runners (five women) were named Academic All-Big 12.
Not only will senior harrier Renee Metivier be recognized with her cross country teammates, but will stand alone as the association’s Cross Country Runner of the Year. Metivier was one of two runners to enter the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country Championships with an undefeated season and came away from the race with her second national runner-up finish since 2001. Included in her season was her first Big 12 Conference title, sixth for a CU woman, her NCAA Mountain Region win was the first for a Buff since Kara Grgas-Wheeler in 2000. She was a first team Academic All-Big 12 selection as she carries a better-than 3.20 grade point average in math.
The most decorated player in Colorado soccer history, junior Fran Munnelly will be inducted into the Sportswomen of Colorado Hall of Fame, as this is her third recognition by the selection panel. Munnelly was a preseason all-Big 12 pick for the second straight season and was named first-team all-Big 12 and all-Central Region at the conclusion. The midfielder became the first All-American in the sport at CU as she was named to the National Soccer coaches Association of American (NSCAA) All-America Third Team. Her nine goals and team-leading 23 points are single season career highs for her and her nine scores is just one shy of CU’s single season record. The Arvada, Colo. native had two gamewinning scores on the year, opening the seven-goal scoring spree against Texas Tech just three minutes and 30 seconds into the game, the quickest goal scored in program history and a penalty in overtime against Missouri in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. Following her Sportwomen of Colorado nomination she was invited to attend the U-21 National Team Camp in Carson, Calif. In the classroom she was an Academic All-Big 12 selection and continues to carry a better-than 3.0 cumulative grade point average in psychology.
Tera Bjorklund will be recognized for a second straight season as the collegiate women’s basketball player of the year. As a senior during the 2003-04 season Bjorklund led the Buffs to their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance. As a senior she averaged a team-leading 18.1 points (the third-highest single season average in school history), 7.7 rebounds, rejecting 27 shots while shooting 58 percent from the field, 74% from the free throw line in 33.9 minutes per game. During the NCAA Tournament alone she averaged 24.7 points and 9.0 boards. By the 22-8 season’s end, she was an honorable mention Associated Press All-American, Kodak All-American District V, Nasimith.Wooden/Wade Trophy Award finalist and first team all-Big 12 pick.
